An Elusive Egg

It was a rainy Easter Sunday.
Even though the rain was scheduled to stop in the afternoon, it would be far too wet.
Far too wet for an Easter Egg hunt that we planned for our grandchildren.
Four of our grandchildren were with us on Easter Sunday.

I had filled the eggs days before.
Up there with ironing and wrapping presents, filling eggs is not my favorite thing to do.
I like finding and buying the items while imagining the smiles on their faces.
However, putting the items in the eggs and closely them tightly, is not fun for me.

It’s not about me or what I like.
It is about my grandchildren and what brings them joy.
Forty filled eggs would give each of them ten eggs to find.
One larger egg, with a star on the outside, contained something for their piggy banks.

The rain was supposed to stop after 3:00, but it had been falling steadily for hours.
We made the decision to have the Easter Egg hunt inside.
I knew they would understand and we would still make it fun for them.
My husband went to work, enjoying every minute of hiding the eggs.

My husband hid the eggs as only someone with an engineer brain could do.
He put eggs in the stuffed animal basket, on the back of a toy truck, and tucked among the books.
The eggs were in the family room, living room, dining room, and Grandma’s library.
There were also some in the finished part of our basement.

When they found their ten eggs, with the extra one with the star on it, they came to the kitchen.
They loved the candy, Easter stampers, goldfish, and circle pretzels they found inside.
However, there is always that one elusive egg.
The one egg that cannot be found because the location is not remembered.

I remember when my children were little and an Easter egg hunt had to be inside.
They had as much fun as my grandchildren.
There was also an elusive egg, one that was hidden so well, it remained lost.
That egg, thankfully without candy, was found months later inside the drawer of an armoire.

Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. (Luke 15:3-7)

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, leaves the ninety-nine sheep to look for the one who is lost.
He cares about the ninety-nine who are in the open fields; however, he searches for the one.
The one who got away.
The one who needs to come home.

When Jesus finds that lost sheep, he puts it on his shoulders and goes home.
Can you see it?
Can you feel the tenderness as He picks up the sheep so lovingly and so carefully?
Our Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus, searches for us when we are lost.

An elusive egg, lost in an Easter Egg hunt, is by no means like a lost sheep.
Yet, it did make me think about the degrees we go to find something we have lost.
We may give up after while out of frustration, but how much more does Jesus search?
Jesus never gives up; He will always find what is lost.

Jesus is so kind, so wonderful, and such a tender Shepherd.